The latest on the Washington Nationals' triple-A affiliate in Syracuse from the Chiefs' front office.

Results tagged ‘ Chip Cannon ’

With the Baseball Winter Meetings from Orlando, FL concluded it’s time to analyze moves made and not made by the parent Toronto Blue Jays General Manager JP Riccardi. By striking out on Ted Lilly and Gil Meche the Jays saved between 30-40 million on payroll over the next four years. Lilly ended up receiving 10-million per year and Meche 11-million. The often injury prone Lilly was not worth the gamble over four years, while Meche was inconsistent in Seattle over the past three years. With Roy Halladay, A.J. Burnett as solid number one and two starters, the Jays need only to add a number three or four guy to their rotation. Gustavio Chacin who has won 24 games the past two seasons could be a number three. That leaves Josh Towers, Shawn Marcum or Dustin McGowan to battle for the fifth spot that with off-days makes between 24-26 starts a year….Lost in all the non-pitching moves was the players Toronto picked up this off-season. Frank Thomas as a full-time Designated Hiitter was huge. Matt Stairs who hit 14 home runs and drove in 51 runs last season will replace Frank Cattalanatto and provide more power off the bench. By deciding on Greg Zaun over Bengie Molina and Rod Barajas, the Jays pitching staff, who liked Zaun better will be more comfortable on the mound and the addition of Royce Clayton gives the Jays and up-grade on offense up the middle….NAME DROPPING at the Dolphin Hotel: seen talking in the lobby were Chiefs Executive Vice President Tex Simone with former Chiefs manager and Atlanta Braves skipper Bobby Cox and his infield teamate on the 1970 Championship team Matt Galante now working with Houston. Phillies GM Pat Gillick looks forward to visiting Syracuse this season to see his AAA-club that has moved to Ottawa from Scranton. Brewers Assistant GM Gord Ash reports that his son Aaron, a frequent visitor to Syracuse when Gord was the boss in Toronto, has made the travel team of his area hockey club in Milwaukee. Longtime Blue Jays trainer and Director of Florida Operations Ken Carson will step down this year after 30-years of service to the Blue Jays. Ken will remain on as a consultant for the Florida based operation in Dunedin. Longtime Los Angeles Angeles Scout Moose Stubing has left that team to work for the Washington Nationals. Moose has been a frequent visitor to Syracuse over the years. RULE 5 HELP: The Blue Jays selected infielder Jason Smith from the Cubs in the rule 5 major league draft. Smith, 28, will be placed on the 40-man roster of Toronto. If he fails to make the club out of spring training, Smith can be sent to Syracuse or offered back to the Cubs for half the waiver price of $25,000. At 28 years old Smith would likely clear and give the Chiefs additional infield potection. At the present time, infielders include Chip Cannon and Kevin Barker at first base, Russ Adams and Ryan Roberts at second base, Sergio Santos and possibly Jason Smith at shortstop and John Hattig and Rob Cosby at third. It’s more than likely that only six of the eight players begin the year in Syracuse. The Jays also signed another big-time minor league free agent that will be added to the roster soon. Look for an announcement on our website next week.

Former SkyChiefs first-baseman and current IL MVP Kevin Witt is heading back to Japan next season. After being taken off the Devil Rays 40-man roster, Witt announced that he will be playing for the Tohku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Witt was in Orlando for the Winter Meetings to collect the Joe Bauman Award, awarded to the Minor League player with the most home runs this season.

Cannon, 25, nearly became the first player to win the AFL Triple Crown, leading the league in home runs (11), RBIs (29), total bases (75), slugging percentage (.714) and OPS (1.188). He was second in on-base percentage (.474), tied for second in hits (37) and finished fourth with a .357 batting average.

It will be interesting to see where the Jays start Cannon this season now that they have resigned Kevin Barker to a Minor League deal.

It’s a busy day for the SkyChiefs today. This afternoon the team will hold it’s Annual Meeting of Stockholder’s in the Hank Sauer Room. Also today the Blue Jays made it official that Doug Davis will be Syracuse’s manager in 2007.

Davis brings Championship experience at both the Major League and Minor League level. He was Jack McKeon’s bench coach when the Florida Marlins defeated the New York Yankees to win the 2003 World Series. Davis also led the Pittsfield Mets to the 1997 New York Penn League Championship and the Mets Single-A affiliate in the South Atlantic League, Columbia, to the 1998 League Championship.

Cannon and Yates were named to the Arizona Fall League All Prospects Team. Cannon led the league in HR (11) and RBI (29) while Yates led the league in strikeouts (25) while posting a 2-0 record and a 1.13 ERA in 24 innings pitched.

SkyChiefs catcher Curtis Thigpen had a huge day for the Phoenix Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League on Wednesday driving home six runs, including a three-run homer. Fellow Jays prospect Chip Cannon collected four hits including his fifth home run of the fall season. Entering Play Thursday Cannon is tied for the AFL lead in HR and is fourth in the league with a .372 average. With Kevin Barker electing to become a free agent this week, Cannon will have a good shot at being the starting first-baseman in Syracuse. Thigpen is hitting .308 with 2 HR and 11 RBI. Dustin McGowan started the Fall season off losing his first two starts but was victorious in his most recent start on Monday tossing five innings and allowing two runs on six hits walking two and striking out one. Other Jays prospects in Arizona include pitchers Jordan DeJong (2-0, 3.38), Kyle Yates (1-0, 1.86) and Tracy Thorpe (0-0, 10.80) and infielder Ryan Klosterman (.308-0-3). To follow all the action in Arizona, including the GAMEDAY live feature, click here http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/index.jsp?sid=l119

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